Haunt S.B. Needs the Support of the Fan Community

Our good friends at Haunt S.B. (Santa Barbara) are reaching out to the haunter community, looking for financial help in the form of a Kickstarter campaign to help support this year’s effort. The community of Santa Barbara is akin to the barren landscape of the moon when it comes to things to do at Halloween; enter Matt Dorado and his team – they promise a thrilling, immersive experience for fans this Halloween!

“This year, we are really raising the bar in terms of the quality of production,” explains Matt Dorado, Founder of Haunt S.B. “While in the past we’ve relied more on jump scares, this year we’re definitely focusing on the narrative and immersing guests in a horrific world. The plot will be more complex, the performances will be more intense, and the scenic properties will be a hell of a lot grittier and more warped. We’re really going for the jugular on this one in terms of content and guest experience.”

2013’s Haunt S.B. production is titled “The Nightmare House” and will take guests on a thrilling journey into the mind of a serial killer, peeling back his psyche to reveal the horrifying inner workings of a madman.

Last year, Matt and his team worked their sinister magic under the Santa Barbara LGBT organization Pacific Pride Foundation, and the haunted house was very well-received by the community. Branching out into his own venture, Matt formed Haunt S.B. and has become a very proactive member of the California haunt community. In August of this year, Matt and his group were participants in ScareLA, Los Angeles’ first Halloween/haunter/fan convention, which was attended by thousands of industry enthusiasts, as well as key players within the haunted attraction industry from around the nation. The interest in Haunt S.B. at ScareLA was very high; Matt and his team spent the weekend networking and discussing their plans with fellow haunters and fans.

In addition, the team from Haunt S.B. are regulars at our monthly Trader Sam’s mixers, which are held at the Disneyland Hotel. Matt often makes the drive from Santa Barbara to spend a few hours mingling with fellow haunters and enthusiasts. “For the past couple of months, from the mixers at Trader Sam’s to ScareLA and beyond, I’ve felt so much love and acceptance from TPAers and fellow haunters,” says Matt. “That’s been such a great feeling, especially for a new haunter, who lives two hours from most of the activity, no less! I’m really hoping that I can garner more support to help bring this attraction to life this year.”

That’s where TPAers and everyone else come in. Matt has a very clearly-outlined vision that he’s asking for $9,000 to carry out and get Haunt S.B. firmly off the ground this year. It’s not much, considering large haunted attractions easily spend that amount and more on single animated props. The funds will go to costumes and props, as well as equipment and of course, paying for the rental of a theater in Santa Barbara, etc. It is all well-stated and outlined on Haunt S.B.’s Kickstarter page. Additionally, we thought it was a nice touch that they are going to divide revenue and help reimburse their volunteer staff with the exception of the creative team; they want their volunteers to benefit, while the core creatives do not take away from that pot. We think that is really neat and applaud Matt for that decision.

So here’s the bottom line and hard pitch: Haunt S.B. needs our support. That means cash. Whether it’s a dollar, five, or a thousand – whatever you can, will help. And also very importantly – we are asking TPAers to spread the word wherever and however they can. These posts on Theme Park Adventure come equipped with easy share tabs for just about every form of social media there is. USE THEM! Share the hell out of this article and get the support engine running in overdrive for these guys. Please. They are legit, they are fellow TPAers and they are super-enthused about this project. Let’s make it happen with them.

Theme Park Adventure will be traveling to Santa Barbara this Halloween season to visit Haunt S.B. and cover it as part of our haunt line-up. So even if you physically cannot make it to Santa Barbara, we will and will return with images and video that you can feel a sense of ownership in, having supported them either financially or at very least, by social media and word of mouth to fellow haunters and fans.